'He was 2 steps away from tour bus': Tampines hawker dies suddenly while holidaying in China

A holiday to China came to a tragic end for one man who died during the trip. 

Xie Tianci (transliteration), joined a 87-person tour group travelling to Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, China. 

He was the owner of Ah Hua’s Kitchen Econ Bee Hoon and Nasi Lemak, located at a coffee shop in Block 826 Tampines Street 81. The 69-year-old ran the business for 35 years before passing it to his children. 

He was accompanied by his wife and eight other close friends. The group set off on Sept 6, and were scheduled to return on Sept 17, reported Shin Min Daily News. 

On Sept 11 at about 6.30pm, the tour group was preparing to leave after visiting Sailimu Lake when Xie suddenly fainted. 

Xie's wife, Chen Zhuhua, told Shin Min Daily News: "I heard someone calling me, saying my husband had fallen down." 

"He was just two steps away from the tour bus. I went over the moment I heard something amiss, and saw him holding his face. There was blood coming out from his nose and mouth. When I tried to open his eyelids and treat him with acupuncture he remained unresponsive." 

Although the group managed to alert emergency services, it reportedly took 30 minutes for an ambulance to reach Xie due to the remote location. 

At about 9pm, Chen was informed by doctors that her husband had died. 

Upon hearing the news, Xie's youngest son, Xie Jielong booked a 3am flight to Nanjing. 

The 29-year-old had to take another flight to Urumqi, and travel an additional five hours by car to collect his father's body. 

He was reportedly advised to cremate his father's body in China and bring his remains back to Singapore, but the younger Xie insisted on bringing his father's body home. 

The administrative procedures were also delayed as Xie was born in Malaysia, and was a Singapore Permanent Resident.

Coupled with the delays as a result of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Xie's body only arrived in Singapore last Friday (Sept 20) at 9.30pm. 

He will be cremated on Wednesday. 

During the interview with Shin Min, Xie's son expressed his gratitude to the local authorities, the Singapore and Malaysia embassies for their help. 

Sharing more about her deceased husband, Chen described him as a quiet person. The couple were married for 47 years, and were very loving to each other. 

"The last time we fought was about 20 years ago, he would always give in to me. We were thankful for each other and we said we'd travel the world until we were in our 80s." 

Before the pandemic struck, Chen said that they would go for holidays eight or nine times in a year. They were also planning to visit Genting and Norway next month, and travel to Harbin in December. 

They also had trips to Hainan next February, and to Chongqing next March. 

"Heaven is too cruel, now that he's no longer around, I find it hard to leave the house alone, and life has lost its meaning." 

READ ALSO: Singaporean, 59, dies of heart attack while holidaying in Bangkok

claudiatan@asiaone.com